


A New Life Force

by KazooiesSpiritAnimal



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Force Ghost(s), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22064797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KazooiesSpiritAnimal/pseuds/KazooiesSpiritAnimal
Summary: Rey finds herself in search of a new place in the galaxy, after the defeat of Palpatine, the Final Order, and the loss of someone she never thought she'd miss so much. Except she can't rid herself of their touch, forever impressed upon her, until the reason why becomes too obvious to ignore. (spoilers for TROS)
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 44





	A New Life Force

**Author's Note:**

> TROS made a Reylo fan outta me. I've got nothin' else to say.

The warmth of his hand stayed against her skin, long after it’d gone cold with the stench of death.

Rey woke up every night after that day on Exegol with this feeling of warmth and security spreading from where Kyl—Ben had held her own dead body before bringing it back to life.

His hold, gentle but firm and all-encompassing, lingered in faint traces as she managed her way back to Ajan Kloss, torn between elation of the triumph of the Resistance and the heartbreak of losing _him_ … It wasn’t difficult to disguise her anguish, as she raced through the crowds and happened upon Finn and Poe. Hiding behind a shadow of hope and optimism had been her norm for so long that the look of relief and affection on Finn and Poe’s faces was returned with a big smile and a fervid embrace. The two clung to her and each other, and she clung back, their individual tragedies hidden in the press of their faces against one another. They shared their tales, what integral parts they played in defeating the Final Order and the Star Destroyers, as they celebrated with the rest of the allied forces.

The celebration went on into the late hours of the night, before anyone had left for rest and home planets, the many survivors of the fight delighting in music and games and numerous campfires. Rey had been left to her own devices, sat on the resting settle of General Leia Organa, contemplating her late master’s passing and subsequent absence with the graze of her fingers against the surface of where her body had once laid. Rey closed her eyes and thought of her, the truths Leia had instilled in her through cryptic words of wisdom, and only ever came to the same conclusion.

The memory of Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren, with his hand stirring new life within her.

At the settle of General Leia’s tent, Rey found the greatest vantage point to the rest of the encampment. Watching others became a necessary pastime, to take her mind off the misfortune of losing someone she hadn’t even known she cared so much about until it was too late. She’d confided in Finn and Poe, told them what had happened on Exegol, and, in kind, they’d acknowledged her need for space. So she watched from afar, how others enjoyed in the company of others, listening to others share their lived stories with merriment. Zorii Bliss and her gang of scoundrels had provided drink for the allies who remained on the base while Jannah and her company had provided fresh game. The music and dance, well, manifested through the spirited energy that had overwhelmed their numbers, as the rebel base revelled in the blessing of simply being alive to see another day.

Finn and Poe sat close around one of the fires, laughing, joking, with Rose, Jannah, and a few others at their sides. Rey watched Poe nudge Finn with his shoulder and wink, something no doubt flirtatious and offhand that forced a visible scoff to escape Finn, the other man rolling his eyes with a small smirk as he pressed ever so closer to the warmth between them.

Rey smiled from afar, unknowingly rubbing at the place where Ben’s hand once felt weighted and immovable, as if his presence would never leave her. Now, even with her friends so near, alive, loving, understanding of her and everything she’d learned herself to be, she couldn’t help but feel so utterly alone…

...alone without Ben.

It wasn’t hard to leave the rebel base and her training behind, as there wasn’t anything left to defend and fight against. The galaxy had been utterly freed, for the time being. For the first time in her life, Rey was at peace with herself and her place in the story of the universe. Still, she couldn’t shake the sinking feeling deep within her heart that told her to keep moving, otherwise, the memories of quiet strength, of shame, of redemption, the embrace of unrelenting arms, the touch of lips, and the light of a bittersweet smile would all come flooding back to her.

“We’re coming with you,” Finn determined, with his typical insistence on full display.

“We?” Poe, with one arm still in a sling, popped up from servicing a craft of his and Finn’s choosing for, no doubt, a multitude of worldwind adventures. “Since when do you speak for me?”

“Since always,” Finn replied, without hesitation, turning back to hold Rey’s hands in his. “We almost lost you once. We’re not going to lose you, again.”

“Finn, there’s nothing to fear out there that I can’t handle. The Resistance— _we_ made sure of that,” Rey said, smiling fondly. Poe came up behind Finn, a lot of exasperation and a streak of grease on his face. “Trust, I’ll be alright.”

“I do, I just,” Finn looked back at Poe, turning back to Rey in time to miss the flash of fear in Poe’s eyes. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What you wanted to tell me on Pasaaana.”

“Yeah,” Finn clenched his jaw, nervously. “That.”

“I guess I should leave,” Poe said, moving to walk away. “Wouldn’t want to ruin your big moment.”

“Get over here,” Finn said, shaking his head, taking a firm hold of Poe’s arm and pulling him close without even having to look back. “I want you to hear this, too.” The look in Finn’s eyes, anxious but heavy, pulled the rebel pilot back into his orbit.

“Jeez, well, what’s the secret?” Poe asked, weakly.

“Rey, I—”

“You love me,” Rey finished, pursing her lips, the look of surprise on Finn and Poe’s faces undeniably endearing. “I know. I’ve known for a long time, but Finn… You have to understand—”

“No, that’s not what I was going to say,” Finn said, his gaze shifting nervously between Rey and Poe, his face flushed with the faintest tint of red. “Maybe, I don’t know… That’s what I thought, at first, but I was wrong. That’s not what, huh, what I think—”

Poe clenched his eyes and flung his head back in frustration.

“Damn it, Finn, will you just let it out already?”

“I can feel the Force, alright?” Finn turned on Poe, the other man caught in a state of bemusement that left him nodding with not much else to say. “I-I can sense you all the time, and I thought that meant I had to do something to protect you. I didn’t know if that made me a Jedi, what that would need of me, and I was scared but I’m not afraid of it anymore. I should have said something sooner.” Finn squeezed Rey’s hand with the one still holding hers, clenching the hand still holding Poe’s arm in the process.

“Finn, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” Rey exhaled a breathy smile, a sense of release and new joy for a person she cared so much for to still be her friend, to have him know what it felt like, suddenly feeling ridiculous to think she’d had him wrong this whole time. “I thought, this whole time, you—”

“I care about you, I really do.” Finn looked Poe’s way, the clasp of his hand around his arm, and released the other man to offer it to Rey. “Friends?”

“Always,” Rey beamed, taking his hand and shaking on it. “General.”

“What about me?” Poe asked, not one to be left out, offering Rey a hand covered in grease and grime. Rey took it, happily so, noting the way Poe stared at Finn with something akin to curiosity in his eyes.

“You, too, General Dameron.”

“So, where is it we’re taking you? And, no, this is non-negotiable.”

Rey had to return to Jakku, even if there was nothing there left for her, even if she could no longer deny the origin of her existence and hope for something better, because that’s where it all began. Finn and Poe flew her to the planet on their new light freighter, one suspiciously similar to the Millennium Falcon Lando predictably nicked back, after all was said and done. They stayed with her, helped her traverse the various outposts and suspicious dwellings for information and clues, to connect the dots between the then and now, only to come up empty. The thought that all she would have of her parents’ existence were the cruel words of a Sith Lord had pained her, and that pain seemed to stir deep within her, a gut-wrenching reality.

“Rey…” Finn placed an arm around her shoulders as she held her hands over that phantom ache deep within her body. She felt Poe place an arm around her from the other side, the two men cradling her as the sun set on the edges of a scrap field. “I’m sorry.”

“Least, now I know.” Not a whisper, not a recollection, or an utterance of the name Palpatine had ever seeded itself on Jakku, exactly as her parents had intended all those years ago. “I can let that name die.”

They parted ways, back at the jungle moon on Ajan Kloss, with BB-8 too attached to Rey to ever leave her side again. Finn and Poe flew her back to Master Luke’s X-Wing and set off to who knew where. They hadn’t decided on a destination, only that Poe would take odd-jobs piloting goods off planet for various settlements and Finn would be his co-pilot, gunner, supply runner, inevitably the one to have to clean up after Poe’s messes, Rey was sure of it, as the two wandered the stars...making a home wherever they saw fit.

There was nothing left for Rey on Jakku. She was certain of this now, but where such a revelation would lead her, she still hadn’t a clue. She flew the X-Wing back to Ahch-To, to ruminate on her place amongst the stars, and thought that the island could be her new sanctuary. It was quiet, a peaceful place to reflect, to feel surrounded by the Force of her predecessors. She thought to lay Leia and Lukes’ lightsabers in the heart of the Jedi temple, the very place where she’d inherited its ancient texts, but after two fortnights of quiet contemplation, with only BB-8, Lenai caretakers, and porgs to call her companions, to make a home amongst the jagged rocks and endless sea felt, just, so...lonely.

Is this where she’d ought to lay to rest the legacy of Skywalker?

Rey and BB-8 parted ways with the caretakers, the cute and friendly porgs, and took the X-Wing somewhere else, somewhere that, deep within her heart, Rey knew might be the right place to call the resting place of Leia and Luke...and her new home.

She landed in the harsh deserts of Tatooine nearing a day’s end. The sandy winds whipped at her face, growing icy from the setting suns, as she made the small trek from her craft to a sand igloo similar to the kind in which Master Luke was raised. It could have been the same place where he grew up, based on his tellings, a fact that only served to reinforce her belief that Tatooine was truly special, as good a place as any to make a new start.

BB-8 raced by, where Rey had staked claim to a patch of ground, an important item stowed in its storage compartment.

Rey held a lightsaber in each hand before placing them on the ground before her and, with the Force, buried the Jedi weapons of Master Luke and Leia together. Deep within the ground, where no one but her might ever find them. She stared down at the stirring sands and closed her eyes, committing to memory their burial place. After the thought of their deep descent came another image that had been imprinted deep within her mind. Ben’s face. Ben’s smile. Ben’s death. Rey blinked hard, a single tear escaping her before she promptly swiped it from her left cheek.

“Thank you, BB-8,” Rey said, taking the secreted item from the droid’s compartment. It was a custom, single-bladed lightsaber with a yellow glow, almost like gold, something Rey had been working on ever since she sensed that to use the lightsaber of another might never truly unleash one’s full potential. Luke’s lightsaber had always been too unhinged for her and Leia’s lightsaber too reserved. It only made sense that, after the war, she would finally find time to craft her own while on Ahch-To.

BB-8 made noises of approval.

“You like that, do you? I fashioned it myself,” Rey mentioned, looking admirably at her work, all the while rubbing her stomach to rid it of a sudden flutter of butterflies. She turned off her lightsaber and pocketed it, exhaling a deep breath as she let go of that lingering sensation of Ben’s touch once more. “Come on, then.”

Rey had plenty of supplies to phish out of the X-Wing and bring into her new home before nightfall.

“Hey, you girl,” called a voice, a frail voice, from afar. Rey watched an old woman approach, swathed in dark cloths and robes to shield from the hot days, cold nights, and sand. “There isn’t anyone living there.”

“I know.” Rey returned the woman’s bemusement with a wide smile.

“What’s your name?” the old woman asked.

“I’m Rey.”

“Rey what, dear?”

Rey had to consider it, for a moment, the name Palpatine so far removed from her ideal existence that the thought of saying it aloud made her feel sick. No, she’d abandoned that forsaken name on Jakku, where it belonged. She glanced across the horizon, past the two suns of Tatooine. Her eyes fixed upon a spot in the distance and closed as she inhaled, reopening to the ghosts of her Jedi masters as she exhaled. Master Luke and Leia stood shoulder to shoulder, smiling back at her, the encouragement in their eyes meaning only one thing to her. She had longed to see them again, knowing that it was possible in this way, even if only after a few weeks of the war ending.

It was selfish of her to feel the way she did, but to see their Force spirits watching over her only helped to solidify, in that moment, who she believed herself to truly be.

“Rey...Skywalker.”

The old woman continued to smile with indulgence and went along her merry way, and Rey felt less ridiculous to claim that name when the only other person to hear it didn’t seem to care all that much.

“Rey Skywalker,” Rey whispered to herself, staring back at the setting suns. With BB-8 sat beside her, watching the same, she stood at peace. The whispers of all the Jedi that came before her wandered through her mind, carrying with them the weight of all she’d accomplished. The two suns only made her think of Master Luke and Leia or Finn and Poe...about two people brought together by the universe, to serve a calling, a purpose.

Rey held a hand to her stomach. It was just a bit of nerves, she imagined. As far as she could sense, her purpose had been served. Except she hadn’t served it alone, and the people she’d served it with were all gone or grouped away, in their own stories. Her own calling, to be a Jedi, felt over before it had ever truly began. She’d overwhelmed the temptation of the Dark Side and prevailed. It was her victory, no one else’s, and yet she couldn’t help but feel as though it was supposed to be shared with another, someone she’d lost along the way.

“Ben,” Rey heard herself sob, unable to stop the tears from falling at long last. She didn’t try to stop them this time, grew weak before her droid companion, the smooth surface of BB-8’s dome holding her steady as she collapsed beneath the weight of her own unobserved emotions. BB-8 whirred with worry but kept firm beneath Rey, supporting her slow collapse into herself. “Oh, oh no…”

Rey keeled over and heaved, the stirring in her stomach rising up and spilling forth from her mouth with unchecked ferocity.

“Oh, dear me…!” Rey heard the old woman running after her, felt the soothing strokes of the palm of her hand against her back as she worked to compose herself, but the sickness relieved itself of its own volition, and no amount of Force energy could withstand the inescapable desire to wretch. “My poor girl,” the old woman cooed, somewhere where Rey couldn’t see her. “Let it out, let it out. I’ve been where you are, dear. All part of expecting, isn’t it?”

“ _Expecting_?”

Rey wrapped her arms around her stomach and heaved again, clutching tight, too occupied to wonder just exactly what the old woman expected her to be expecting.


End file.
